Plodd and salami_swamiI see by your profile that your hobby is "Comiconomenclaturism". Can you explain this to the uninitiated, and perhaps tell us why that is a hobby?

Comiconomenclaturism is the hobby of collecting funny names, the sort of names Bart Simpson would ring up Moe's bar and ask for. It's a silly hobby that I spend barely any time on, but it does make me grin when I see an amusing name. I have a book in which the author has collected amusing anecdotes and names. I found it on eBay years ago and had to have it! It might only be as simple as someone having a name which matches their occupation (such as the law firm of Lawless & Lynch), or a name that has you wondering what the person's parents were thinking when they were naming their new baby!

shuehorn and eburgeIs there an inside joke or story involved in your name "Tizzabelle"? What are some of the funniest names you've come across, within the FT world and elsewhere?

No inside story. It's terribly prosaic really. I've been around the internet a bit and used various nicknames. When I first went online and needed a name I sat there staring at the screen and thought I'd use my car's name which was Tizzy, short for Tizzabelle. I later became Tizzabelle, and a dozen other names over the years. When I found FunTrivia I never thought I'd be here as long as I have so I used the first name I thought of. I had a car with the registration plate of TZL ... My cars have always had a name and as Isabelle is one of my favourite names, so it wasn't of a stretch to christen my car Tizzabelle. My current car is blue so when it came time to give her a name it was obvious... Bluebelle!

Autumn. In Sydney we often have warm autumnal days with cool nights. That's my perfect weather. Sure, in Sydney it often rains in autumn, but a lovely autumn day is glorious in Sydney especially when my footy team is winning. Go Sea Eagles! Autumn can be a blessed relief after a hot and humid summer in Sydney which can drag on, and on, and on...

rossian and shuehornYou live miles from anywhere in Australia. Have you visited any other countries, and if so, which was your favourite?

New Zealand is glorious and the people are lovely. I love San Francisco. It reminds me of Sydney in a way and I immediately felt at home when I was there. I recently went to Vanuatu and it reminds me of Bali back in the 1980s when I first went there before it became so commercialised. I'd love to go back for a holiday there.

Plodd and shuehornIf you were to write a travel guide for your home country, which five places would you recommend people visit?

It depends on what you're particularly interested in but I'll give you the things I would love to do if I was coming from overseas.

1) Spend a day on Sydney Harbour. On a sunny day with a little breeze, it's magnificent. It doesn't need to be expensive. You can hop on ferries and spend all day on the harbour for under $20, going from one stop to another, getting off and wandering around at the stop, and hopping back on the next ferry.2) The Great Barrier Reef. I love snorkelling so where better to snorkel than at the biggest reef in the world (while watching out for sharks, box jellyfish, stone fish, crocodiles etc)?3) I love road trips so my dream is to one day pop the car on train to Perth. This takes about 3 days. Then I'd take my time and drive back to Sydney over the next two - four weeks, visiting Ayers Rock on the way, and Melbourne to see a Pies v Blues AFL match.4) Animals! Australia does have some unique animals so I would have to see Australia's animals such as roos, koalas, wombats, quokkas, kookaburras etc. The snakes and spiders can stay in their holes though. I do my best to avoid them at the best of times so seeing them intentionally isn't on my list of must dos.5) Food and wine. I'd want to try native Aussie foods like macadamias, kangaroo (delicious but it has to be done rare to medium rare. Anything more than that and you have shoe leather), emu, crocodile etc. Then there is the wine. Restaurant dining here can be expensive but when you get a great dish you don't care. On the other hand, you can find some fantastic food from many cultures (esp Asian) somewhere in Australia in cheap cafes and bistros. Pub tucker can be exceptional too.

rossian and salami_swamiIf you had to live in another city, where would you choose and why?

I'd live in London for a year as a home base to explore the British Isles and Europe. Then I'd zap over to NYC for a year to see the USA and Canada. Then I'd settle in Hobart. As much as I love Sydney after being born and raised here, it really has become a rat race here. Hobart is smaller, quaint, close to nature, has the Derwent River to look upon, and the people of Tassie are lovely. It's a mite cooler than Sydney (it's even snowed on Xmas Day there) but that wouldn't worry me in the slightest.

rossian You registered on the site only in 2009 and have risen rapidly through the ranks. How did you come across FunTrivia?

I've had a curious mind for as long as I can remember. Just ask my mother who gave me a toy accordion when I was 4 years old. I had it taken apart within minutes trying to find out where the noise came from. I also remember taking the back off a portable mechanical alarm clock to see how it works. I don't remember what I was looking for when I found FunTrivia but I must have been looking something up on Google, seen a link to FT, and that was it. I wandered around for a week playing quizzes before I joined. Then after three weeks I became a gold member and the rest is history.

rossianI've always found you an easy editor to work with. What do you think are the best and worst things about being an editor?

Thanks, rossian. You'll make me blush! I love "meeting" authors around the world and learning while I edit. I enjoy being in "partnership" with the authors fine tuning a quiz. It makes my heart sing a little when an author takes a suggestion I've made and turns an ugly duckling quiz into a swan. I've always enjoyed problem solving so it's lovely when it all comes together. The worst things? I do feel bad when I have to send a quiz back because it doesn't meet the category guidelines. Rules are rules and I have to do it, but I don't enjoy it, especially if the author has put a good amount of work into it. Recidivist plagiarism is very annoying for a few reasons. Everyone's entitled to a mistake or two but to do it time and time again is a waste of an editor's time and author's. I enjoy doing quiz corrections from the notes but there are times when you'll get 5 or 6 or 7 incorrect correction notes in a row. That's head banging on the desk time. Please check your facts first. I promise you, Ottawa isn't the capital of Mexico and British English is perfectly acceptable on FT! On the other hand, those notes are very easy to dispose of!

dcpddc478Is being an editor more work than you thought it would be?

Yes and no. In the beginning when I was a true newbie, everything took so long. Now it's much better as I'm more used to it but there was a time when I was pulling my hair out wondering if I had made the right decision in accepting the job. The old stubborn gene kicked in and told me not to give up and a few weeks later I was fine (and scored another category). I still consider myself a newbie at the editing game but I really enjoy it. It's my hobby. I even take it on holidays with me if possible so I can do an hour or so a day. It would be nice to do a little editing most days but I work 12 hours shifts, sometimes 3 or 4 consecutively. On those days I don't have much time for anything else other than work, travel, eating, showering and sleeping. Then I spend quite a bit of time editing on my days off. So, I'd like a couple more hours in a day please.

PloddYou have helped me numerous times when editing my quizzes, giving me advice and direction without losing your patience. Is there one editor that gave you inspiration when you started quiz writing yourself?

I don't recall ever seeing anything from you that exasperated me Plodd. The instance that comes to mind is a quiz I wrote with two questions the editor didn't think satisfactory for one reason or other. LeoDaVinci sent me a correction note about the questions and offered to help me rework the questions but my stubborn gene kicked in and I tried to solve the problem myself. Within half an hour I'd thought of two different types of questions I'd never written before. That correction note made me think of new ways of looking at any topic and was a lesson in "thinking outside of the box". And yes, the quiz was better for it. Thanks Leo.

salami_swamiAny favorite quizzes that you have edited? Favorite authors to work with?

A quiz can seem quite mundane at first while I'm editing then I start finding things in the interesting information that spark my interest. It could be something new (like the kodkod that I'd never heard of before until your quiz, salami) or learning new things about something I thought I knew a lot about before. Favourite authors? It's nice seeing some old faces roll up in the queue because you know they're work will be of a certain standard and if there is a problem, they'll be a joy to work with (yes, yes, including you salami ). On the other hand, an author you don't know arrives in the queue and you're delighted to find someone who writes well, has imagination and is pleasant to deal with. It's a bit like finding a $20 note that you'd forgotten about in a pocket. It brings a smile to my face.

salami_swami What has been the best experience you have had here on FunTrivia?

The people here. Simple as that. Without the people I've come in contact with in person, while editing, on the Forum, battling them in competition, or by some other means, this place would be like being in school. I'd fill in quizzes and do research like I was doing an assignment for work or study. That would become very dry and dull in short order. It's the people that bring this place alive!

eburgeWhen you're not being an editor extraordinaire in your respective categories, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I used to do a lot more before I discovered the internet! Nowadays people might call me trivia obsessed. I prefer the term "focused". I do read a bit though not as much as I used to. Reading material could be anything from the fluffy book I'm readying now which will be a chick flick "movie of the week" one day, to gruesome murder mysteries (especially a good history mystery), to books about history, nature, people etc. I have been known to do all the "girly" things like cross stitch, patch work, and knit. I don't mind getting into the garden. The one thing that is sacrosanct is my Wednesday night trivia competition with a group of friends at a club. We've been playing together since 1997 and what ever money we win goes into the bank. About once a year we go on a holiday with our winnings to a rented house near the beach. It's the best day of the week and sometimes we have so much fun chatting that the trivia is quite forgotten. It has been known that we've looked up at the scoreboard and found that we've won and wondered how it happened as we've been laughing so much. Other nights we lose badly but we don't care. It's our weekly get together and we love it.

shuehornOne of your strengths is writing killer brain twists, something that many of us find difficult to do. Any tips for those who aren't as good at that task (this quizzler included)?

Thanks Sue! I'm blushing again. In all honesty, I was stumped for ages about writing Brain Teasers. I love drop a letter quizzes but I wanted a new angle that hadn't been done before to my knowledge. Then I had a brain wave one day and started writing. No magic tricks unfortunately.

dcpddc478 If you could meet any person, past or present, who would you choose?

Just one? Elizabeth I comes to mind. She was a modern, accomplished woman for her times and I'd love to ask her about a few things that are rumoured but totally unverifiable such as HRH being the secret mother of Sir Francis Bacon... and did Sir Frank really write all of Shakespeare's works, and what her father was really like, and how she felt about seeing so many people executed in those harsh times etc etc.

eburgeIf you could have an unconventional animal as a pet, which one would it be, and why?

That is possibly the easiest question of the interview. Cats. Wild cats. Anything from a kodkod to a Siberian tiger. I had the chance to pat three cheetahs at a zoo in Canberra and it was a magnificent experience. They were like a normal domestic kitty cat, just a larger and with bigger teeth! I could have laid down next to them and cuddled them like a house cat but I thought that was a little risky. They licked my hand while I patted them as they lay in the sun on a cold Canberra morning.

In my perfect world, I'd also have otters, either river otters or Californian sea otters. They are mad and adorable. Then I'd have some fabulous wolves, meerkats (otters of the savanna), a couple of elephants (baby elephants are too cute), fennec foxes, and some birds of prey. I'd dearly love to do some falconry but it's illegal in New South Wales. I can only imagine what it's like to have a falcon or other large bird of prey landing on your hand and hand feeding it. I'd also need some kookaburras, whip birds and owls around the traps singing in their unique voices. While I'm at it, throw in some penguins. My perfect menagerie would have nothing venomous!

PloddHave you got any secret addictions you would like to share with us (i.e. lamingtons, vegemite, watching "Neighbours" on television)?

Reality TV, but not the reality TV you're probably thinking of. I love "Project Runway" but not because I'm clothes obsessed. I usually find the subject of clothes quite dull (but I love jewellery and handbags). I love "Project Runway" though because I am intrigued by the creative processes in challenges such as making an outfit from car parts, reusable shopping bags, or things you can find in a greengrocers. I wouldn't have a clue where to start but somehow they create some amazing garments. I'm also watching "Ice Road Truckers" this season because it's so completely alien to anything we do here in Australia. One season will probably do it as it will become repetitive but for the moment, it's fascinating. The other show I'm intrigued with at present is "Megatruckers", an Aussie show in which a heavy haulage trucking company moves some massive objects. I mean, if you had to move a piece of equipment several hundred kilometres with truck, along public roads, some hilly regions, and it weighed 192 tonnes, where would you begin? The answer is with five trucks joined together like a train set, and move very, very slowly through any towns in the middle of the night so you don't knock out the electricity lines. It's so different to anything I've ever done that I find it interesting. I can also watch "Friends", "The West Wing" and "Law and Order" repeatedly but that's normal. Isn't it? Mayonnaise.. I never buy it because I can eat it by the tablespoon and come back for more. And that's all I'm admitting too!

shuehornWhat is one thing that you wish to accomplish that you haven't yet done? Conversely, what is one of your proudest accomplishments?

Having nursed in intensive care units since the 1980s, I can honestly say I've been part of a large team that has saved the lives of many people who have gone on to live their lives again after nearly perishing. We don't think of it very often as it's just part of the job but it is lovely to see or hear of patients who were incredibly ill going back to their lives and families.

I don't know that I'm "proud" of this because I don't really know that I have this talent, but I've had more than a few people tell me I always know the right thing to say. I suppose that comes with maturity, perspective and experience, but I always thought I was more afflicted with foot in mouth disease rather than perspicacity. I still manage to put my foot in my mouth occasionally but not as often as I used to. Still, it's nice knowing that some people appreciate the waffle that comes out of my mouth on occasions.

Things on the to do list. The next major thing is the demolition of my house and the building of a new one on the same site. I plan to do this in the next year or so. After that, I'd like to travel more but the trips I'd really love to do will take time so might have to wait a while. I love cruising so I'd love to cruise Alaska and Canada's west coast for starters. I'd love to do a road trip across the USA and then back thru Canada. I dearly want to see the aurora borealis one day.

I'd also like to do some volunteer work for a charity on a regular basis eventually. I give some money regularly to a few charities but with an irregular work schedule, donating time is a little tricky. (I'm getting a headache...Is my halo on too tightly?)

Really fun interview Tizzabelle! I relly enjoyed knowing more about youAs to the funny names, we get them here with a vengeance( Company names Lee Kee Boots and Shoes, also Lee Kee Umbrellas, Won Kee Bicycle Co , and used to be in the Phone book under Places of Worship: The Sher Lee Temple) Now I know who to send them to.Local people love a unique Christian name and love to choose something weird like for instance Expo Kwan who teaches at our school.There is an lady who is a government economic advisor, called Money Lo. In my last Primary One class there was a little girl called Wind Lee. ("Did you pass Wind on your way to school?")You had better move to Hong Kong!

That was an interesting interview, Tizz, and I'm glad I had the chance to take part.

I've a name to add to your collection. When I lived near Bristol, our local estate agent was called Luce Panes. I've just looked them up, and the firm was established in 1966, although the original Mr Luce was an auctioneer, land and estate agent in 1889.

Thank you to all my inquisitors, especially for asking questions which didn't ask about my bad habits and worst characteristics. I've come out of this interview looking rather like Pollyanna which will amuse my real life friends no end

Ren, when I was in Honkers a few years ago I looked out for funny names. I caught a few funny signs but very few names. The one that stands out is the department store with an unfortunate name.. you'll know the one I mean

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A platypus lays eggs and produces milk - it can make its own custard

It was a pleasure being one of your inquisitors I am sure that everyone in time will add to your list of funny names, but it brings to mind a trip I made to Devon in the West Country a few years ago. There was an estate agents (realtor) called Force & Son. Every time they sold a house, up went the board which read "Sold by Force". There were a lot of houses in Devon sold by Force

Those names are hilarious. My one friend and I compile lists of our own—she from lists of names she comes across in her work, me ones I read in magazines. Sometimes they’ll be whole names, but mostly just first names (the occasional surname, but not usually). Favorites include Glenwood Branch, Mom and Meth—and those are only the three that popped into my head!

Edited to add: just remembered Pippin Roe.

Edited by Jazmee27 (Mon Nov 19 201209:23 PM)

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(1) Young I may be, but even young people are entitled to their opinions.(2)Attempting to silence me doesn't hurt me, but the silencer.(3) I must remain true to myself.

I know what my subliminal message would be, but it would be of no help to anyone lol.

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The way to get things done is NOT to mind who gets the credit for doing them. --Benjamin JowettNo one can make you feel inferior without your consent. --Eleanor RooseveltThe day we lose our will to fight is the day we lose our freedom.